HUNTSVILLE - In a letter delivered last week, the head of the largest union representing corrections officers called on Texas Governor Rick Perry to take emergency steps to alleviate the critical shortage of security personnel in the state’s prisons."Governor, we face a public safety crisis," wrote Brian Olsen, Executive Director of Correctional Employees Council 7 of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME). "If the state fails to deal with it, the consequences could be catastrophic - for correctional officers and the general public. None of us wants to see a repeat of the violent Texas 7 escape."Olsen wrote that the state needs to take emergency steps to retain current corrections officers, recruit new ones, and entice former officers to return to the system. Those steps would include: 1) An emergency 10% pay raise for all correctional officers and legislative passage in 2009 of a second 10% raise that includes all agency staff. 2) Ordering the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to hold discussions with employee representatives on ways to improve morale and reduce turnover as provided by Senate Bill 909, which passed last year.

In recent weeks, TDCJ has reduced the number of prisoners held in units to deal with a critical shortage of correctional officers (CO’s). In testimony during last year’s legislative session, TDCJ Executive Director Brad Livingston acknowledged that the agency is losing 5,000 officers a year and that the shortage stood at 3,600 at the time.

"My members believe the current situation is far worse and that we are likely 5,000 correctional officers short of the 26,000 + that we need," Olsen wrote in the letter.

"We are long past the days when TDCJ could stall reform until the public shifted its attention elsewhere," wrote Olsen in concluding his letter. "Today, the stakes are too high and the price for failure is too dear. Please Governor, take action today."

As the Executive Director of the largest employee organization representing state correctional employees (AFSCME/CEC7) I am obligated to send out this letter. In light of the state wide crisis in manning the state prisons it is incumbent upon me to ask you to help with this very important public safety issue.

Recently it has come to light that several units around the state have cut the number of inmates due to lack of correctional staff. This is just the tip of the ice berg. Those units are so understaffed many officers are required to work much of their "off" time under the mandatory overtime policy, and yet the units are still under staffed. This is a severe crisis that is only getting worse by the day.

What I am asking is that an emergency pay raise be given to the security correctional officers immediately of 10%. This would be a raise for all those that work in gray including Food Service, Laundry, and Supervisors. This shot in the arm of pay would do much to keep good employees, and bring in new professional employees. This raise must be done Now! Then during the Legislative session another 10% should be given to the entire agency just to get them to a respectable professional level. Too long this problem has gone on, and now we are in a dangerous situation for the public at large, let alone the officers and the inmates. Its time that Texas come into the 21st century with the rest of the country and work with the employees instead of against them. We also ask the Texas Senate Bill 909 be implemented by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. This allows TDC to enter into a partnership with its employees to make it a better place to work.

We must stop this massive turnover and with this two pronged attack, (Emergency Pay Raise), and (enacting SB909 as an employee Partnership), we can stop much of this hemorrhaging that is costing the Texas taxpayers millions of dollars. Please contact me at your convenience.